RESUMO
Erosions and gastric ulcers may be present in horses at any age and under different conditions of rearing and handling. In tropical regions, horses can feed on fruits rich in soluble carbohydrates, such as mangoes, but little is known about how these foods interact with their digestive systems. To test the hypothesis that the ingestion of ripe mangoes with peels could cause disturbances in the digestive processes of horses, an experiment was developed to monitor animals that had free access to ripe mangoes in their pasture areas. Horses (purebred Arabians, n = 5; ~340 kg, ~13 years) were evaluated by video gastroscopy and blood analysis. A controlled postprandial glucose curve for mango intake was also performed. Gastroscopies were performed at intervals of 15 days, starting in December, just before the beginning of the harvest, until the beginning of February, and days after the end of the harvest. Blood collection was performed on the same day between November and February for blood analysis. The results were submitted to ANOVA and Tukey's test, with a significance level of p < 0.05. Gastroscopies indicated that four out of five horses had erosions and ulcers in the squamous region between 15 and 30 days after the start of the season. Biochemical tests indicated a reduction in plasma proteins during the harvest period, and the postprandial glucose curve showed concentrations above 200 mg/dL between 30 and 180 min after ingestion of 5.37 kg mangoes. The animals were not treated and recovered after 15 days of harvest and without ripe mangoes on the ground. It is concluded that the indiscriminate ingestion of mangoes favors the appearance of lesions in the gastric squamous region, to varying degrees, and that animals recover naturally after an average of 15 days from the end of the season when the animals return to their regular feeding with hay and grass pasture.
RESUMO
The aim of this study was to evaluate some physiological parameters as total locomotor activity and subcutaneous temperature in two different bovine breeds under tropical environment. In this study, total locomotor activity and subcutaneous temperature were evaluated in 18 clinically healthy female cows. All cows were divided into 3 groups: group A1 was constituted by 6 Holstein Bos taurus, group A2 was constituted by 6 female Herford Bos taurus cows, and group B was constituted by 6 female Bradford Bos indicus cows. Data recording of total locomotor activity (TLA) and subcutaneous temperature (ST) was performed by means of a subcutaneous thermometer (Thermocron) and an actimeter ACTIWATCH® (Cambridge Neurotechnology Ltd.) based on accelerometer technologies equipped on all subjects to record TLA. At the same time, thermal and hygrometric recording were carried out, considering the subtropical climate of Santa Fe. The application of GLM for statistical analysis showed a significant effect (P < 0.05) on statistical model and time of the day on TLA and ST for all groups; no significative effects on animal parameters were found for ST and TLA except for group B. Circadian parameters have been evaluated according to the single cosinor procedure of ST that showed a diurnal daily rhythmicity for all investigated groups and TLA which is focused almost during the photophase for groups A1 and A2 and during scotophase for group B. Considering different species and breeds, and different environmental conditions, this study suggested that some subjects may be much more able to adapt themselves to environmental stress than others. During their evolution from Bos taurus, zebu cattle (Bos indicus) have acquired genes that confer thermotolerance. Subjects from Bos indicus breeds are better able to regulate body temperature in response to heat stress than Bos taurus subjects.